Helika, a leading game analytics and product company, has completed the first cohort of its Telegram Gaming Accelerator, a key initiative supporting developers building within Telegram’s fast-growing mini-app ecosystem.
Launched in late 2024, the three-month program brought together eight carefully selected studios from over 300 applicants. At a time when the gaming industry was facing rising development costs, flattening revenues, and creative stagnation, Helika set out to support teams ready to move fast and build differently. These studios worked closely with Helika’s product and analytics experts, industry mentors, and Telegram-native communities to launch and iterate on playable games.
The program emphasized rapid testing, data-informed decision-making, and scaling within a platform built for lightweight distribution, viral mechanics, and access to over one billion monthly active users.
A key part of the accelerator was access to a global mentor network spanning game design, publishing, localization, tokenomics, and community building. Participants had direct guidance from industry veterans like Magic: The Gathering creator Richard Garfield, Marat Karpeko (co-founder of Wargaming), and experts from GGS.VC, AdsGram, and GemsWall, among others.
The results spoke for themselves. Several games in the cohort had already reached six-figure user numbers, while others demonstrated high daily engagement, strong retention, or creative use of Telegram’s unique distribution model. Here are a few standout milestones from across the cohort:
Tribo Games – Achieved 10% D90 retention and over 70 minutes of average daily playtime
Pollo – Reached 37.2% D14 retention and 29.4% D30 retention
TON Battle Ground – Scaled to 300K monthly active users in two months, with 26% D7 retention
EdChess – 380K registered players, 1,500 daily active games
Triumph Games – 60K downloads and a 4.7 average app store rating
RiverLand – Reached 95K monthly active users
Richie: Metapolis Mayor – 40+ minutes average daily playtime and a 61% K-factor
LFG – Secured the largest grant from Avalanche’s InfraBUIDL(AI) fund
The program culminated in a high-energy Demo Day during GDC week in San Francisco. Over 500 attendees—including developers, investors, publishers, and partners—joined for live demos, panels on the latest gaming trends, and a showcase of what’s possible when great teams build on Telegram.Looking ahead, Helika’s next chapter includes supporting games across a wider range of platforms and ecosystems. In 2025, the company will launch new accelerator programs focused on emerging ecosystems and platforms, with a continued emphasis on analytics-driven development. The company is also developing AI-powered tools and modular components of a publishing engine to support studios through testing, scaling, live ops, and monetization.
By focusing on what matters—speed, insight, and strong fundamentals—Helika aims to give game developers the infrastructure they need to build and grow in an increasingly competitive market.
For more details on the cohort, Demo Day, and what's next, read the full article here.
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